When you first decide to commit to having natural hair there is a lot of information that you have to take in.
You watch countless youtube videos and read endless blogs on the “best” products to use on natural hair and you try to soak up as much of the information as you possibly can.
It’s understandable.
After all, you want to make sure that you make the right decisions but with everyone recommending a range of different products how do you pick the right one for you without becoming a natural hair product junkie?
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What is a product junkie?
Firstly I’d just like to say that anyone can fall into the trap of becoming a product junkie.
A product junkie is a person that is continuously on the search for the perfect product that will work magic on their hair.
They jump from product to product often spending tons of money looking for the perfect solution for their problem.
They hear one person talking about a particular product so they go and buy it, another person talks about another product so they decide to try that too and it just continues.
It can become a very expensive cycle with lots of products stored up barely used just collecting nothing but dust.
It would be wise to stay as far away as possible from falling down the product junkie hole.
7 Things you can do make sure you don’t end up becoming a product junkie
1. Understand your hair
Understanding your hair can be a major factor in helping you to not buy products that may not be suited to you.
When I first began my hair journey I spent a lot of money on products mainly because I was quite naive.
I really believed that if I used the exact same products as “X” my hair would look just like that too.
Well, I quickly realised that wasn’t the case. Mainly because I knew nothing about hair types and thought that I could somehow change the way my hair behaved.
Everyone’s hair is different even if you think you have the same hair type as someone else.
Hair density and porosity can make a major difference in how your hair behaves.
Related post:
How to treat your high porosity hair
5 Tips to help you with low porosity natural hair
2. Know your ingredients
Did you know that some ingredients can irritate your hair and scalp?
The sooner you learn to read and understand product ingredients the better off you will be.
It’s in your best interest to know what sulfates, parabens etc are. Even some of the more simple ingredients might not agree with your hair.
As you try different products you might start to see that certain ingredients just don’t work as well for you.
It’s a good idea to keep an eye on that.
3. Understand there is no magic product that will do all that you want
It’s easy to get caught up in which product will work the best for your hair. You can easily fall into the trap of looking for that one perfect product for your natural hair that will do all the things that you want it too.
I’ll just help you out a little bit with this one because there is no perfect product out there anywhere.
You will find products that will work very well but there is nothing “perfect”.
4. Set a budget each month for products
Having a budget of how much you are going to spend each month on products can be a real game-changer if you know you are a product junkie.
Set a limit for yourself and make sure that you stick to it no matter what.
The next “magic” product can always wait until next month.
By allowing yourself to wait before your next purchase can also help you to no avoid impulse purchases and give yourself time to cool off and think rationally before making another purchase.
5. Do not hoard products
Hoarding products is not a good look for anyone.
If you find that you do have too many products make a conscious effort to either finish using them or give them away.
It’s easy to just hold onto them but by actively doing something with the products, it will help you to think twice before you make another purchase.
6. Use samples where possible
If you can it’s a great idea to test out samples of products before you buy the full product.
This can help you to save money and actually get a chance to see if it will actually work for you or not.
You can sometimes find sample products in stores or you can sign up to subscription boxes that will be sent to you every month where you can sample products.
7. Keep a journal of products you have tried and the results
Another great way to avoid becoming a product junkie is to keep a journal of sorts where you can easily see which products you have already tried and how they worked for you.
Believe me its easy to forget if a product was good or not.
Having a journal will help you to keep track of what worked well and which products were awful for you.
Final thoughts on how to avoid becoming a product junkie
Hopefully, these 7 tips will help you to curb your spending on products and actually get you to use what you already have and make better choices when it comes to picking a product.
If you haven’t already got a copy of my FREE Natural hair care essential pack you can get it here and use it to keep track of the products you have tried.
You can get a copy of it here.
Don’t forget to join my new Facebook group too where I will try to answer some of your pressing questions.
Join in the conversation!
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